A bit about me

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   Hi, my name is Anthony. I attend VO Manchester along with my wife and 3 young children. 
I was brought up in the Salvation Army. My parents have been members of the Salvation Army all their lives. I was a member of the Salvation Army until 2000 when I left in order to start the new millenium with a fresh start. I somehow managed to attend hundreds of Salvation Army services without ever getting saved. I think I did a lot of day dreaming.
While I was at the Salvation Army during my teens and early tweenties I suffered some rejection from my peer group and that left me upset and angry that so called Christians could treat people in this way. At the time I didn't realise that they were just kids (just like myself) and that they weren't really representing Christianity at all.  But I was attending Church for the fellowship with friends rather than to worship God so I allowed myself to get hurt. In the end I decided I didn't want anything to do with Christianity so I stopped going to church.
I also had an issue with masturbation from my teenage years. It was a habit that I could not crack even though I tried many times. I would vow never to let it happen again but the urge was always too strong so I would end up in the same place again, and end up feeling guilty again. 

It was a two year period when I didn't attend church at all. During this period I think that God healed my heart of all of the rejection that I had endured in the past. I actually felt happier away from church. 

Then at the end of 2001 I was in my room one evening feeling nauseas and to take my mind off it I picked up a bible. I don't know what I read or why I picked it up but at that moment I knew that I was going to church that sunday (later I found out that I had been prayer for at a Salvation Army church retreat shortly beforehand). I turned up at the Salvation Army that sunday morning. If anybody had said anything to me about my abscence over the previous 2 years I planned to bite his/her head off. Of course nobody said anything of the kind.

Then over the next couple of weeks I watched a lot of the God channel in secret while my parents were out. I was off work for a long christmas break. I also read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and another book called The Case Against Christ during this holiday and that gave me the logical argument that I needed in order to be able to take a step of faith. I remember praying the sinners prayer during that holiday while watching one of the God channel programs. In fact I remember praying it a number of times (just to make sure hehehehe) over those few days.

At some point during this holiday my mastrubation habit stopped. Basically the urge just went away. I consider it to be a miracle that God worked in my life, and this was happened shortly before I got saved. If anybody ever questions me about my faith then I can say with certainty that I know that I could not have delivered myself from that masturbation adiction. It could only have been God

Then I got up in church in a service and declared that I had been saved. I did this because I was mindfull of the text in Romans where it says that you need to confess Christ with your mouth, as well as believe in your heart in order to be saved.

I remained at the Salvation Army until I got married, and moved to Manchester. The Salvation Army do not practice baptism but I wanted to be baptised. Once I was married we attended Church of God of Prophecy for a while and that is where I got baptised.

Then a couple of years later Nicola and I chose to move to Victory Outreach and that is where we are now. 

I still make plenty of mistakes on a day to day basis but thankfully and fortunately God is kind and patient. There is a famous quote that says something like 'I may not be where I need to be, but thank God that I am not where I used to be". I think that describes me pretty well. I am trying and God is working. Above all I know that God is good and that he loves me. I am learning to trust him in all things.

I travel to work by train each day so I use that as my opportunity to read the scriptures. I am a slow reader so it takes me a while. At the moment I am working my way forward through the bible book by book. I have got as far as Psalm 102. 

My wife and I have also started having devotions together early each morning where we pray together and do a reading together. This is making a big difference in our individual lives and in our marriage and our household.

I have rambled on too long now so I'd better get back to work.

God bless

Anthony

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anth75 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 07 Apr 2010 Location: Manchester Online Status: Offline Posts: 7	Post Options Post Reply Quote anth75 Quote Reply Topic: A bit about me Posted: 28 Apr 2010 at 1:31pm
	Hi, my name is Anthony. I attend VO Manchester along with my wife and 3 young children. I was brought up in the Salvation Army. My parents have been members of the Salvation Army all their lives. I was a member of the Salvation Army until 2000 when I left in order to start the new millenium with a fresh start. I somehow managed to attend hundreds of Salvation Army services without ever getting saved. I think I did a lot of day dreaming. While I was at the Salvation Army during my teens and early tweenties I suffered some rejection from my peer group and that left me upset and angry that so called Christians could treat people in this way. At the time I didn't realise that they were just kids (just like myself) and that they weren't really representing Christianity at all. But I was attending Church for the fellowship with friends rather than to worship God so I allowed myself to get hurt. In the end I decided I didn't want anything to do with Christianity so I stopped going to church. I also had an issue with masturbation from my teenage years. It was a habit that I could not crack even though I tried many times. I would vow never to let it happen again but the urge was always too strong so I would end up in the same place again, and end up feeling guilty again. It was a two year period when I didn't attend church at all. During this period I think that God healed my heart of all of the rejection that I had endured in the past. I actually felt happier away from church. Then at the end of 2001 I was in my room one evening feeling nauseas and to take my mind off it I picked up a bible. I don't know what I read or why I picked it up but at that moment I knew that I was going to church that sunday (later I found out that I had been prayer for at a Salvation Army church retreat shortly beforehand). I turned up at the Salvation Army that sunday morning. If anybody had said anything to me about my abscence over the previous 2 years I planned to bite his/her head off. Of course nobody said anything of the kind. Then over the next couple of weeks I watched a lot of the God channel in secret while my parents were out. I was off work for a long christmas break. I also read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and another book called The Case Against Christ during this holiday and that gave me the logical argument that I needed in order to be able to take a step of faith. I remember praying the sinners prayer during that holiday while watching one of the God channel programs. In fact I remember praying it a number of times (just to make sure hehehehe) over those few days. At some point during this holiday my mastrubation habit stopped. Basically the urge just went away. I consider it to be a miracle that God worked in my life, and this was happened shortly before I got saved. If anybody ever questions me about my faith then I can say with certainty that I know that I could not have delivered myself from that masturbation adiction. It could only have been God Then I got up in church in a service and declared that I had been saved. I did this because I was mindfull of the text in Romans where it says that you need to confess Christ with your mouth, as well as believe in your heart in order to be saved. I remained at the Salvation Army until I got married, and moved to Manchester. The Salvation Army do not practice baptism but I wanted to be baptised. Once I was married we attended Church of God of Prophecy for a while and that is where I got baptised. Then a couple of years later Nicola and I chose to move to Victory Outreach and that is where we are now. I still make plenty of mistakes on a day to day basis but thankfully and fortunately God is kind and patient. There is a famous quote that says something like 'I may not be where I need to be, but thank God that I am not where I used to be". I think that describes me pretty well. I am trying and God is working. Above all I know that God is good and that he loves me. I am learning to trust him in all things. I travel to work by train each day so I use that as my opportunity to read the scriptures. I am a slow reader so it takes me a while. At the moment I am working my way forward through the bible book by book. I have got as far as Psalm 102. My wife and I have also started having devotions together early each morning where we pray together and do a reading together. This is making a big difference in our individual lives and in our marriage and our household. I have rambled on too long now so I'd better get back to work. God bless Anthony